We Live Forever, But Not Together
by Niki Bogwater
Summary: Xerneas has to say goodbye as its Trainer goes somewhere it can never follow.


Xerneas had never wanted to die as much as it did now. Having a natural lifespan of eternity had never hurt this much before. It considered turning back into a tree for the remainder of the earth's years, but what good would that do? It would still be alive, and therefore, it would still hurt.

It knew it was bad when it saw the look on Shauna's face as she came out of the doctor's office. The bags under her eyes that were normally crinkled good-naturedly were sagging with tears, and she had done nothing but let Xerneas out of its Poke Ball and throw her arms around its neck and sob. So it knew it was bad. It just hadn't imagined it would be as bad as this.

Its Trainer was lying in the hospital bed, plugged into an oxygen machine, looking very uncomfortable, despite all the fluffy pillows bunched up around her. The moment the door was opened to her room, her precious Pokemon lunged inside and threw itself down on its knees by the bed, laying its head on her chest and whimpering.

"Hey, now, none of that..." she whispered, though it sounded like such a simple action was painful. Tears continued to roll relentlessly down Xerneas's cheeks, and it moaned desperately as she weakly lifted a trembling hand to stroke its nose for the last time. It tried everything it could, but its life-giving powers could only start new life, not refresh an old one. But seeing its antlers glow seemed to give her a bit more strength, because she began talking to it again.

"Look, don't you worry 'bout me, hey? I'm not dying so much as just...switching ways of living. We'll both live forever, just in different ways..." Xerneas shook its head vigorously. _This isn't living unless I'm living with you..._ it thought. It would have given every single moment if its neverending life just to keep her here.

* * *

_Pain. That was the first thing it remembered. Everything was being sucked out of it. All of its power, all of its remaining life force was leaving it, and though it was not afraid of dying after living so long, it knew somehow that its powers would only be used to hurt people and Pokemon. Enraged, it began to shift. It tore its power out of the machine again, and morphed into its true form for the first time in three thousand years. It hurt._

* * *

"I don't have much longer..." she whispered, and Xerneas cried out in agony. _No! Don't leave me!_

* * *

_"...It's alright!" she said, moving her hands up placatingly. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm here to help."_

* * *

"Here." With shaky hands, she reached up and unclasped the silver chain that she always wore around her neck. The old, round locked gleamed in the grey light of the hospital room as she tenderly clasped the chain around Xerneas's neck. "You take care of this for me, okay?" _No! Why can't you stay? Why can't things be like they were before? Please, no!_

* * *

_"It's over, Lysandre!" she hissed, towering over his quivering figure, a fire in her eyes. "Team Flare is dead. And Xerneas lives again, safe from you!"_

* * *

"I love you so much, and I can't thank you enough for all the adventures we've had." _I love you too. But they were only adventures because we were together. So you've gotta stay and have more with me!_

* * *

_The camera flashed, and Xerneas had to shake its head to get the spots out of its vision. The other Pokemon cheered as Phil handed her the new photograph. "Nicely done, you guys!" she said, as a bright-eyed Pikachu with a jingling collar scurried up her shoulder to peek at it. "Can I get an extra copy for my scrapbook?" she asked Phil. "I'm going to resize this and put it in my necklace."_

* * *

After she died, no one ever saw Xerneas again. Many thought it had simply withered away from a broken heart. It wasn't even present for the funeral, though many kind words were said about its devotion to her, in case it was listening somewhere. She was buried near Vaniville Town, where she was born, surrounded by her family and her Pokemon, whose graves were smaller but nonetheless beautiful, with hand carved inscriptions that she had designed herself.

**Buddy the Pikachu; "A loyal Buddy is all you need."**

**Simon the Pidgeot; "My own feathered flight of fantasy."**

**Susan the Lapras; "A gentle heart amidst the pounding surf."**

**Henry the Delphox; "Burning love."**

**Jeffrey the Lucario; "The protector of my heart."**

As the tearful attenders said their farewells to the Pokemon League Champion who had saved the region from destruction at the hands of Team Flare, no one noticed an old, withered tree with an X carved into the bark, standing sentry by the newly dug grave. But for years afterward, people say that on the anniversary of her death, a lone Pokemon would appear in place of the tree, with a rusted locket around its neck, crying over its beloved Trainer's grave...

_**Fin.**_

**A/N: Oh. My. GOSH! I cannot believe I wrote this! I'm never this tragic! I must be sick or something!**

**So, I got back from my Spring Break vacation to Colorado, and I find a 2DS on my bed with Pokemon X preinstalled, courtesy of my Big Brother Best Friend Forever, Calvin. Took me all of three days to beat it. Yeah, I'm a Pokemon Wizard. And let me just say it was fizzpidgeoning awesome. Anyways, according to the Pokedex, the Legendary Pokemon Xerneas lives forever, and that got me thinking "Wouldn't that result in something like a Doctor Who complex where he has to watch his friends die while he lives on?" And then, poof! Here was this ridiculously depressing fanfic write in front of me... Well, not just "poof." There was some typing involved...just a bit. You might hate me for this, but I'd still appreciate it if you'd tell me in a review...Just, in case you feel the need to yell at me for making you sad...Hint hint. :P**

**-Niki Bogwater **


End file.
